Pirelli Cinturato RC Tyres

Pirelli jumped into the off-road cycling tyre space in early 2019 with their Scorpion range, and they haven’t looked back. I was lucky enough to be invited to Sicily to ride on their first treads, casings and SmartGrip rubber. Pirelli have taken a different approach with their mountain bike tyres, releasing conditions specific tread patterns across their XC, trail, enduro and eMTB tyres and of course their latest Scorpion Race range of Enduro and Downhill rubber. Pirelli’s Cinturato Gravel range began with Hard conditions, Mixed conditions and Soft conditions tread patterns and soon enough the Cinturato RC tread came along – looking very similar to a scaled down version of Pirelli’s truly exceptional Scorpion XC RC tread but aiming to be an all-conditions tyre.

Pirelli jumped into the off-road cycling tyre space in early 2019 with their Scorpion range, and they haven’t looked back. I was lucky enough to be invited to Sicily to ride on their first treads, casings and SmartGrip rubber. Pirelli have taken a different approach with their mountain bike tyres, releasing conditions specific tread patterns across their XC, trail, enduro and eMTB tyres and of course their latest Scorpion Race range of Enduro and Downhill rubber. Pirelli’s Cinturato Gravel range began with Hard conditions, Mixed conditions and Soft conditions tread patterns and soon enough the Cinturato RC tread came along – looking very similar to a scaled down version of Pirelli’s truly exceptional Scorpion XC RC tread but aiming to be an all-conditions tyre.

The Cinturato RC sports a close tread for low rolling resistance, a tubeless ready bead for easy tubeless setup, quality edge knobs for grip, a strong casing for puncture protection and even a gravel specific compound that aims to increase rolling resistance. When I was building up the Factor LS long term gravel bike with Shimano’s latest GRX group set and wheels – the Cinturato RC were an obvious choice.

A closer look

The Cinturato RC come in 40mm and 45mm sizes, and I had 40mm supplied for test. They also do a slightly stronger casing for the Cinturato RC X if you know you put a lot of pressure on tyres with sharp rocks and high loads. The tyres use a 60tpi casing, compared to the Cinturato H, M or S that use 120tpi for a lighter and more supple ride. My test tyres clocked 506g and 507g each, below the claimed 540g. This is about 60g heavier than a Maxxis Rambler in 60tpi with a TR casing, and over 100g heavier than a 120tpi casing Rambler. 

I fitted the Cinturato RC up with Tubolight EVO gravel tyre liners and Joe’s No Flats Elite sealant. They popped onto the bead with no problems or seeping, and remained that way throughout the test. The tyres inflated to 42mm on a 25mm internal rim, and I settled on 35/40psi front and rear.

On the gravel 

My first ride on the bike was a gravel loop in the Scenic Rim, in south-east Queensland. It’s a mix of smooth gravel, rough and chunky gravel, roads and plenty of braking bumps on the dirt. I’ve ridden this route before on tyre setups that were too slick on the dirt, or too slow on the fast sections. The Cinturato RC did roll fast on the opening sealed road section of the ride, and I was pleased to find they found traction easily even on steep climbs as long as I was seated.

While the edge knob is good, on the crumbly dirt roads on this route I still had to make sure I really picked my line. Your contact patch on a gravel tyre is so much smaller than even an XC tyre, and even with a versatile tread pattern and strong casing, there are clear limits. Still, I was impressed with how the Cinturato RC rode. With more time on varied terrain since this first ride, I have been impressed with how well the Cinturato RC handles the mix of terrain that most people will encounter on a gravel bike. It is very predictable across a wide variety of terrain, although I didn’t use it in any muddy conditions – as I can’t recall the last time it rained.

Verdict 

I’ve come to find the Cinturato RC a firm favourite. Some gravel tyres have fairly specific use cases, or can lack the casing strength. Even the Pirelli the Cinturato H and M which I bought last year didn’t quite offer the end use I wanted. I don’t mind changing tyres for suitable uses on my XC race bike, but on other bikes I just want to get out and ride. I’ve found the Cinturato RC has a very wide performance window to do just that, easily swapping from rougher off-road conditions to fast rolling speed on the road. It’s not a cheap tyre, but so far the wear rate has been excellent, and it could be a perfect set and forget gravel tyre for a wide range of riders as it comes in both 40mm and 45mm widths.